MORE than a dozen vintage bombs will be detonated on Thursday this week, four days after they were nearly razed by a fire last Sunday.
Senior Supt. Benjamin Santos, Cebu City police chief, said the vintage bombs are scheduled to be detonated by the military’s Explosives Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Division at a mining lot in Toledo City.
“I already requested with the EOD of the AFP to assist us in detonating the unexploded explosives, which we have accumulated for the last two years,” he said.
Santos said he inspected the area and asked the city government to provide
transportation and the regional office for funding of the detonation.
Last Sunday noon, an airconditioning unit of the Special Weapons and Tactics inside the Cebu City Police Office short-circuited, causing a fire.
SPO2 Glen Facturan of the Firearms and Explosives Office of the Police Regional Office admitted they don’t have a facility to store the vintage bombs.
He said they could detonate the bombs after they secure approval from the different offices.
“Some are still going to be used as evidence for pending cases in court. The items also need to sought clearance from the region’s Supply and Logistics office since it has been accounted as one of its property already. This is to avoid any problems with the Commission on Audit (COA),” Facturan said.
After obtaining all the necessary clearances, Facturan said it will be the region’s Supply and Logistics office that will request for the budget from the PRO-7’s Finance section.
During detonation, police usually partners with mining firms for the disposal of the bombs.
“We have to have a large area to avoid any damages during its explosion. We also have to buy explosives used in the mining to utilize for the detonation,” Facturan said.